The Holy Grail Tournament
by Frosty Wolf
Summary: Unexpected influences lead to astounding changes stemming from Sabers first attempt to destroy the Holy Grail. Now, facing an entirely new kind of battle, a new tale emerges. The first Holy Grail Tournament. Shirou/Harem
1. A Whole New Battle

Disclaimer: I do not own Fate/Stay Night or any of the related series that may be presented within the story.

The results of Sabers failed attempt to destroy the Holy Grail in the fourth war were much more pronounced than anyone could have expected. Now, thanks to influences both magical and mundane, the participants have to look forward to an entirely different war, though one thing remains the same. Only one may lay claim to the Holy Grail!

Welcome to the Holy Grail Tournament!

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><p>Chapter One: A Whole New Battle<p>

Shirou had known something was off; he had known it for several days but hadn't been in a position to do anything about it at the time. It wouldn't do to skip school or the responsibilities that he had there after all. Besides, there hadn't seemed to be any serious issues at the time.

Now, as he sat bleeding against a stone wall, he began to wonder if he wouldn't have been better off just skipping off school altogether and simply staying home for the day. Even with the inevitable lecture from Taiga if he did, it would probably have been better than dying alone down here, wherever here was.

But perhaps that was looking too far forward. After all, things had been completely normal just this morning. At least what he considered to be normal.

* * *

><p>Breakfast had been an unusually peaceful affair in his home. Taiga had not shown up to steal some of the food that he had carefully prepared, a rare but not unheard of occurrence, but Sakura had shown up to eat with him.<p>

Not that he really minded his guardians company; she just wasn't good at creating a peaceful atmosphere.

Mataou Sakura was a very pretty young woman; even Shirou wasn't so dense that he didn't notice that about her. Purple hair hung down over her shoulders, framing a face that fell somewhere between cute and beautiful as she grew older, especially with her equally striking purple eyes. A uniform for their school covered a fairly pleasant body that a few of his less scrupulous classmates had made comments about in the past, to his quiet disgust. Though they were hardly the only ones that took an interest in the attractive young woman, many would-be suitors had been sent away in disappointment after being gently shot down.

She had shown up to try and cook for him. A habit she had gotten into a while back when he couldn't cook for himself and never really broke. But he made it a point to try and cook as often as possible. It really wasn't fair to expect Sakura, a friend of his, to cook all of his meals for him. She had never once complained about having to do so, but it never made it seem any better to him.

After a pleasant meal, if not a fairly quiet one, the pair started the trek to school. The route was one that they had gone through hundreds of times together. But not too long ago something had changed, though not due to construction or anything similar, and most of the people that passed by were completely unaware of this fact. Shirou, as a magus among other things, was not a normal person by any stretch of the imagination. And so, he was able to feel the subtle changes that had been made to the area no more than a week ago.

It was a…a presence for lack of a better word, a weight that had come to hang around the area like a heavy shirt, though lacking in any significant force as far as he could tell. If nothing else, Shirou had not seen any negative effects from the new presence, either to the people in the area or the property. And with no one at risk, he saw no reason not to wait and see what happened before acting.

Contrary to what some people thought, he didn't always feel the need to rush in without thinking.

Now, feeling he had waited long enough, he planned to try and locate the source of the strange sensation. After all, his stepfather had mention all sorts of dangerous beings that existed when he had still been alive, mostly when he had still been trying to keep his stepson from following in his footsteps.

"Sempai," a voice to his side questioned. Sakura was looking at him with an almost adorable look on her face, an odd mixture of concern and confusion that led her to tilt her head to the side ever so slightly with her eyes widened.

It really was too cute an expression for the already attractive girl.

"It's nothing Sakura," he rushed to assure his companion. "I was just lost in thought."

"I see," fortunately for him, Sakura seemed to accept his words without protest. "Were you thinking about rejoining the archery club? I know that several of the members miss you, and you do spend a fair amount of time working on the equipment already."

Not so fortunately, Sakura seemed to have jumped to completely the wrong conclusion regarding his short bout of inattentiveness during their stroll to school. Suppressing the urge to groan, he continued to listen to Sakura attempt to coax him back into joining the club. Something he would always carefully decline. He also noted the lack of change to the atmosphere he had just finished walking through, but shoved it into the back of his mind as campus started to come into sight.

Really, what was the harm in waiting to get through school before he looked into the matter?

* * *

><p>His plans had not gone through nearly as well as he hoped they would. He had convinced Taiga, in the face of a fair amount of whining over her missing both of his meals in one day, when he promised to make her something nice for breakfast tomorrow and make her lunch too. Of course, that had taken a fair amount of time. After that he had to stop and assist the archery club in putting away their equipment. Finally leaving the school grounds, he made his way to the area he had felt the magical pull from.<p>

Unfortunately, actually finding whatever he was feeling was a fair bit harder than he had hoped. The feeling of power that he sensed was spread out over several square blocks, only growing slightly more intense as he wandered further into the area he thought the feeling was coming from.

He made it a point not to think of how silly he must have looked wondering around in circles like this. Fortunately the sun had already begun to set and there weren't many people hanging out in a quiet neighborhood like this.

The building that he finally stopped in front of was a reasonably small two story home, good for a small family. And apart from the fact that no one seemed to live there, looked pretty much the same as every other house on the block. But the presence he felt, which had grown from a slight weight to something he could almost feel, like a gust of wind just lightly blowing him, led him to believe that he was in the right place.

Checking behind him and trying not to think about just how guilty he must have looked, Shirou made his way to the back of the house. That way, he could look around and perhaps even try to get into the house without anyone on the street watching him and wondering what he was up too.

Or calling the police, which would have been bad for him too.

Only the fact that whatever made this aura could have been dangerous to the people in the area if he left it alone for too long led him to actually trying to get into the house.

Surprisingly his first attempt to get into the house, which involved trying to open the back door, got him inside. Even if magic wasn't involved, most people locked their homes when they left, even if there was nothing to take it would at least keep squatters and other people from coming in unannounced. True, that also described him at the moment. But that was beside the point!

The first floor had nothing of note inside of it, ignoring the fine sheet of dust that seemed to have developed over everything from a lack of housekeeping. Apart from a stove and fridge that did not seem to have any sort of power, there was no real furniture and nothing in the cabinets or closet that he could find but more dust. Not seeing anything that seemed to lead to some sort of basement, not that he really expected to find one, Shirou cautiously made his way up the stairs. Gripping the rail with an unnecessary amount of strength most would have called excessive.

The reason for the firm grip was the presence, which had become that much more pronounced after he had entered the home, now seemed to blow against him softly and actually blow through his ears. Knowing that he was getting closer to whatever was creating this feeling was both exciting and terrifying at the same time.

The upper story, only slightly less dusty than the first, reinforced his earlier belief that a small family must have lived here at some point. A bathroom and two decent sized bedrooms led credit to his theory, though most of the items were gone from any of the rooms. But it was in the last room that he finally found what he was looking for.

The room was small, with an almost cramped feel to it. It looked like it could have been a small office or maybe a storage room at some point, though there nothing to give away what its previous purpose had been.

Instead, he found a small hand mirror inside. It was a simply thing made of wood and glass. No gold or runes or anything to hint that the item he was looking at was in any way magical, which might have been the point. It even gave a reflection of him, though it was a bit unclear underneath the grime that had begun to form on the surface. With a reasonable amount of trepidation, he made his way over to the mirror, a journey that took all of three steps, and reached out for the mirror.

He didn't touch it of course, even a magus as untrained as him knew better than to simply reach out and touch an item that you could actually feel the magic coming off of. He quickly decided to use Structural Analysis, one of his most frequently used spells, to try and understand exactly what he was looking at.

The results he got were…strange. It was just wood and glass as far as he could tell. Though the materials themselves were too perfect to be natural, ordinarily he would have found dozens of minor issues within the wood and glass, invisible to the naked eye. But there was none of that here, and even though he could feel the magic coming off the mirror he couldn't tell what the real source was.

His next move was one that most magi would label as idiotic, and even he would question the wisdom behind it in the days to come.

He reached out and laid his hand on the dirty glass of the mirror, trying to brush away some of the dirt, when he felt his world explode in pain. It was a short thing, but in that moment he felt each of his circuits cry out as they were forcibly drained of prana. The mirror seemed to glow for a moment, though he couldn't be certain as his eyes began to water. He could feel the disorienting sensation of being forcefully thrown around before the room disappeared around him.

* * *

><p>His senses came back to him fairly quickly, a gift from so many years of being an early riser. Rolling quickly to his feet he tried to figure out what had happened, had he triggered a Bounded Field, forced teleportation, or had the mirror simply placed him under some kind of illusion. Whatever it was it didn't lead to any positive conclusions about his current situation.<p>

Not seeing any immediate danger, Shirou took a moment to take in his surroundings. He was in a large room, no windows, though there were two doors at either end of the room. The doors and floor both seemed to be made of the same kind of wood while the walls seemed to be made from stone, though it was unnaturally smooth stone. Light came from a series of small orbs arranged at the top of the room. The light was enough to illuminate the entire room, and only the lack of windows and the grey walls kept the room from having an almost at home feel.

These thoughts passed through Shirou's mind in about three seconds before he got to his feet and headed for the closest door. For the second time in less than an hour, he found himself surprised at the lack of barrier to his entry. On the other side he found a hallway designed much the room he was in now, stretching off into the distance. Not seeing the point in remaining where he was, Shirou began a cautious trek down the hallway. Oddly enough, he could feel a breeze despite the lack of circulation that the hallway seemed to have, but he didn't see the point in questioning it at the moment.

After less than a minute of walking he found himself at a crossroad, this one stretching out in front of him and to either side. But for the first time since he had entered this bizarre place he found that he wasn't alone. From the hallway in front of him a new figure seemed to draw itself from around another corner.

It wasn't human, whatever it was. It was mainly wood and resembled some kind of human size doll. It stood just a bit shorter than he did. Its arms, legs, torso and head were made of some kind of light brown wood while its joints seemed to be made from a dark metal; its head was in the shape of a human but without real eyes, ears, nose, or a mouth. In spite of its lack of eyes, the creature seemed to stare directly at him, moving forward despite lacking any obvious means of energy or self-propulsion.

Calmly walking forward, the creature casually raised its right arm. With the better angle, Shirou could see that there was a small hole embedded in the end of the wrist, exposed when the automaton raised its arm. Shirou could make out a glint of metal as the head of an arrow; the same dark color as the rest of the metal it was made of, emerged from the hole and launched at him.

It was mostly reflex that saved him at that point than any conscious action on his part. Ducking his head in much the same way a child in gym would, the small arrow flew past him and impacted along the along the wall further down the hallway he had just come from. The sound of metal hitting stone was enough to get him up and send him running, even as fled to the right he could have sworn that he could hear a click as the creature ahead of him reloaded for another shot.

The next several minutes seemed to go by in a blur. Shirou would rush down a series of identical looking hallways, constantly looking over his shoulder for his attempted murderer. Unfortunately, there seemed to be far more than one of the golems patrolling the maze he had found himself in. Fortunately, they seemed to be incapable of moving at anything other than a quick stride and required a moment to target him. This allowed him to keep half a step ahead of them by ducking around corners whenever he sighted one. Unfortunately, this kept him running through what seemed like an endless series of hallways with no way of fighting back.

It finally occurred to him that he should have brought some sort of weapon with him before he started this investigation. Maybe one of the few weapons his father had left him from his days as a bounty hunter, or even a bow and arrow from the equipment he had been working on earlier that day would have been better than coming in unarmed.

Oh well, hindsight and all that.

It was with those thoughts in mind that his luck, such as it was, finally decided to abandon him entirely. Pursued from behind, Shirou dashed for the fork in the road in front of him. But in what was either a basic attempt at strategy by boxing him in, or just a display of chance, the right road was cut off by another of the golems that had been plaguing him. Dashing left, Shirou was almost relieved to see a door at the end of the hallway even though he had no idea where it would lead him.

Unfortunately, the run left him completely exposed and the hallways were too narrow to try and throw off his pursuers aim by dodging to either side without hitting the wall. He was hit before he made it more than two thirds of the way to his new destination.

The pain was intense, even with all of the adrenaline pumping through his system. The arrow sank into his right arm, just below the shoulder, easily piercing flesh and sinking in several inches. The only positive thing about the situation was that the arrow wasn't barbed, though he didn't think of that at the time.

Doing his best to ignore the injury that was sending waves of pain through his body with every step, Shirou bolted inside of the room, which also had an unlocked door that he promptly slammed behind himself. He couldn't hold back a flinch as he heart metal sink into the wood behind him, and from the sounds of it this bolt had been aimed somewhere closer to his spine.

Wondering a few steps to the right, Shirou let himself fall to his knees, filling his lungs with precious oxygen hadn't realized he had been missing. Letting himself stay on the hard floor, Shirou dared to look at his right arm, and almost immediately wished he hadn't.

The injury itself looked bad enough, but he had apparently lost enough blood to stain most of his right sleeve and part of his jeans an easily identifiable red color. Sighing, he reached with his other hand and grasped the arrow, flinching as the contact alone served to aggravate the injury. Steeling himself, he couldn't contain the scream as he ripped the arrow out, allowing a fresh wave of blood to continue staining what was most likely a lost set of clothes. Letting the bloody arrow fall to the ground with a clatter, he covered the injury with his hand in an attempt to stem the bleeding while his back hit the stone wall. This was not how he had pictured this going at all.

Deciding that the amount of blood he had lost was not enough to threaten his life, or if it was there wasn't a whole lot that he could do about it without real medical supplies, Shirou let himself examine his new settings. He was in a small circular room composed entirely of smooth stone, the only entrance that he could see sitting behind him, the center of the room raised itself and held a small stone pedestal covered in symbols that he couldn't even begin to identify. On top of that pedestal sat what looked like a small, round, white stone, free from any sort of crack or disfigurement that he could see from a distance.

Though if it weren't for the fact that the item practically hummed with magic, he wouldn't have cared about it very much after the time he'd already had in this place.

Daring to look at the still closed door, this showed no signs of opening or any sounds to indicate movement on the other side, much to his relief. He cautiously got to his feet and took a few steps closer to the item that the room seemed designed to simply draw attention too. While he drew close enough to feel the pleasant warmth that seemed to come off the stone he made no move to grab or touch it.

After all, the mirror had been pretty benign looking before it had done whatever it was that it did.

Pacing around for a few more minutes, Shirou considered his options. He could walk out of the room, and get away from whatever this thing was, but have to face the creatures that had tried to kill him. Or he could touch the small, white stone that may only try and kill him.

Wasn't it nice to have options?

Half expecting it to blow up in his face with the day he was having, Shirou was pleasantly surprised when all that happened at his touch was a minor drain on his reserves, and a much more relaxed one compared to what had happened earlier. He quickly tried to let go of the stone, but the rock seemed unwilling to release itself to his mild panic. The drain continued for several more seconds until the stone simply turned to dust in his grasp, falling harmlessly through his fingers. He didn't even notice as runes appeared on the ground around him, energy came alive in front of him as a figure formed in front of him.

The woman who appeared in front of him almost took his breath away. Blonde hair that almost seemed to have been spun from gold framed a pair of stunning emerald green eyes. Most of her body was covered by some kind of silver armor, which spread from her neck down to some kind of metallic skirt that covered her legs. Her entire figure was alight in a way that gave her an almost ethereal appearance.

Then the glow faded, but the aura of power and authority he felt from the woman in front of him didn't diminish in the slightest. Her eyes seemed to search him for something as she gazed at him and he wondered what a sight he must have looked in his dirty bloodstained clothes.

"I ask of you. Are you my Master?"

Swallowing his tongue, Shirou tried to think of an appropriate response to what seemed to be a completely random question. The girl aside from him didn't let her expression shift in the slightest, gazing straight into his eyes as she began to speak again after several moments of silence.

"I am the Servant Saber, in response to your summoning I have come. I ask again, are you my Master?"

Before he could think of anything to say, pain exploded in his left hand. If possible, the pain here was even more intense then when he'd been shot with the arrow. Like hot knives were being driven into his hand and he vaguely realized he had cried out in pain. But as quickly as it came, the sensation passed, leaving only a dull ache.

Three sword shaped marks appeared on the back of his left hand, each one pure white and stuck out clearly against his tanned skin. That seemed to be enough for Saber as she nodded to herself.

"From this time forth my blade shall be in your hands, and your fate shall rest in mine. Our contract is complete."

And really, what was he supposed to say to that?

* * *

><p>And there is the first chapter of my latest story. It has been months since my last update, mostly due to college, but I decided that it is finally time to get back in the writing game! So please, leave a review and tell me what you think so far.<p>

And just to be clear, I'll explain a few things here. Just in case anyone takes the time to read the authors note. Not too likely, but it seems worth a shot.

First of all, this will not be a knock off of Fate/Extra or any other videogame, though I will be using certain video game elements and elements from other series from other Type Moon series for the story. Some of which will be seen in the next chapter, others will be introduced later. I'm not about to give everything away all at once.

Second, yes this will be a harem story. Though I will try to add an appropriate level of buildup to the relationships, and I will not be revealing who the members will be just yet.

Third, the Shirou in my story knows very few spells, but he does actually use the Magic Circuits inside of his body instead of creating his own. So while he isn't a genius, he has access to a decent amount of magic. I can see the need to do this in Fate/Stay Night to keep from overpowering Saber, but I always hated that they essentially crippled Shirou in order to make it happen. You'll see how I balance out her strength and the other Servants in the next few chapters.

Fourth, many servants will be shown here, some of which are better known than others. That said, I am not looking for any OCs at this time. You are welcome to send in a layout for a servant or other character, preferably well thought out ones. But I make no promises to use them at this time. The same can be said for dungeons, monsters, or locations for the future. Your welcome to comment, but I take the story where I fell it should go.

Fifth, I cannot say when I will be able to update. I have college, elderly relatives, work, and generally life to deal with, so I cannot promise to update every other week or something. Updates may come every few days, weeks, even months, I cannot say right now.

Sixth, future chapters will have more dialogue than this I promise you. While I do try and describe some things without words, I will try to have a decent amount of dialogue; there were just no conversations worth having this chapter.

Seventh, I try to keep the magic here reasonably close to how they present it in canon in some areas. But if it seems that I made some big error, let me know and I'll double check it. I don't pretend to have a complete memorization of the magic in this series.

Finally, please review! It's what gives me the motivation to make quality chapters and update that much faster. To any other authors out there, I think you know what I'm talking about.


	2. Settling In

Disclaimer: I do not own Fate/Stay Night or any other series that may be represented within this story.

Well, it's been about a day and a half since I posted the first chapter. In that time I have gotten five reviews, numerous story alerts and a couple of favorites as well. Considering the fact Fate/Stay Night is not a high review area like some areas, I consider it a complete success and hope that this chapter will be even better.

This chapter will have a few explanations, a lot more dialogue, and more of my favorite Servant, Saber!

A special dedication goes out to RobotPirateNinja for being the first person to review my story, but hopefully far from the last.

The rest of my notes can be found at the bottom of the chapter. So without further ado, here is the second chapter.

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><p>Chapter Two: Settling In<p>

Silence stretched out between them as Shirou tried to find a proper response to what he had just seen and heard. He understood some of the terms she was using, but couldn't figure out how they applied here and now. After more than a minute of silence passed, he decided it was time to change the subject.

"What did you say your name was?" It wasn't much of a question, honestly, but it bought him a few seconds to think of something more intelligent to say.

"I am the Servant Saber," the girl in front of him calmly repeated part of her earlier introduction, not looking at all put out by what he saw as a fairly awkward situation.

_That isn't even a real name,_ Shirou thought, resisting the urge to hit his head against the wall in frustration.

Sighing, he tried to get back to the situation at hand. He was trapped down here, wherever here was, with a strange girl in armor. There were strange golems, or at least what he thought were golems, between him and the exit. Assuming that this strange place did in fact have an exit and he wasn't stuck down here for the rest of his life. Short an amount of time as that was looking like.

He was sure that there had been stranger days, really…but damn if any came to mind.

While he tried to think of a way out of here, Saber was taking stock of her own situation. She had been summoned, that had been expected since her failure to claim the Holy Grail during the fourth war. But the situation was different, the rush of information that she received after each summoning told her that her situation had changed, but that could wait for the moment. Her new master, whose name she still didn't know, looked confused and injured. She was also in some kind of stone room, and while some of her former masters had taken some time to prepare for her summoning in odd ways this seemed a bit off to her.

Finally, and this may have been the worst of all, she was unarmed! That would have to be corrected immediately.

"We should depart from this place Master," she spoke up. Shirou started slightly when he realized he had been ignoring the woman in front of him. "This location is not safe for you, and you seem to require medical treatment."

Between the sourness in his legs from all the running and the arrow wound in his arm, he didn't really have the grounds to disagree with her. Unfortunately, the situation wasn't as simple as simply leaving.

"I was shot," he trailed off for a moment, finding it a little difficult to admit out loud. "The hallway out there is patrolled by some sort of golems. I don't know how many there are or where the exit is though."

Saber looked away from him and towards the only visible door and nodded. "I understand Master, please remain close to me and I will clear a path for you."

Opening his mouth to object to what was, in his mind at least, a suicidal plan. He was cut off by an odd humming sound coming from the pedestal that the strange orb that had caused Saber to appear had rested. The stone surface on top of the pedestal seemed to ripple with an invisible force before reforming. In its place was a glass surface that seemed to meld directly into the top of the stone pedestal. It was oddly familiar looking too.

Remembering how he had gotten into this situation in the first place, he raised an eyebrow.

Could it really be that simple?

Not sure what he was expecting, but willing to take the risk, Shirou reached out and laid his hand flat on the glass. Like before, prana was forcibly drained from his circuits. But this time the effect was only mildly uncomfortable, as opposed to the outright pain that he had experienced before entering this place.

And for the second time that day, his world turned white and he felt like he was being thrown around by an invisible wind.

* * *

><p>Sadly, his landing had not improved in the slightest. So he once again found himself on the ground looking up at his surroundings. Sighing, he pushed himself to his feet, just in time to see his new Servant appear in a flash of light. Unlike him however, she managed to stay on her feet. Eyes closed, her position seemed far too dignified for the trip she had just gone through.<p>

He found it somewhat unfair that she could keep her balance so easily and he couldn't. Oh well, at least she hadn't show up to find him lying on the ground.

"Where too now Master," the golden haired girl asked. She didn't seem the least bit perturbed by the impossible trip that they had just gone through, or by their new surroundings.

And now that his life didn't seem to be in imminent danger, it was probably time to address a few other things as well.

"You don't need to call me that you know." He said, scratching his head a bit awkwardly. "You can just call me Shirou."

She studied him for a moment, her intense gaze making him a bit uncomfortable before she nodded. "Very well Shirou, what are our plans now?"

"Right now, I just want to get home and patch myself up." He decided that being up front and honest was probably the best approach right now, not that he had much reason to lie about this. Looking out the window he saw a dark sky, the room they were in lit by a lamp on the street. Just how long had he been down there?

Not receiving an answer, Shirou cautiously made his way out of the room and down the stairs. Fortunately, a fair amount of light came in through the windows to make up for the lack of electrical lighting in the home. Saber trailed after him silently, seeming to have no trouble getting around despite the darkness.

In the living room, things got a little awkward when he had to stop Saber from going through the front door. She looked back at him after he stopped her from opening the door.

"Why?" Her question was vague but there were no doubts to what she was asking about.

_Because I'm not supposed to be in this house, because you're wearing armor, because I probably look like a bit insane covered in blood like this,_ there were several reasons and he wasn't even sure where to begin!

"Because we might attract too much attention like this, so we need to use the back door." It didn't really explain anything, but the sooner they started for home the better. Fortunately, his Servant only nodded instead of calling him out on his weak answer. With that, he headed for the back door.

It wasn't very far from this place to home, thankfully, but it felt like so much longer than it was. Instead of keeping to the well-lit sidewalk, he did his best to keep to the shadows. It was much harder to make out the bloodstains on his clothes for what they were in the darkness after all and he couldn't think of a good answer to explain them.

Saber, on the other hand, seemed to have no such problems. Walking boldly down the street in her armor as if it was the most natural thing in the world to her, but if she wasn't going to draw attention to his strange actions he wasn't going to call her out on hers.

Fortunately, luck seemed to take pity on him, because they made it home without being seen. Or if they had been seen, no one had cared enough about what they were doing to call the police, either way was good.

Sighing in relief, Shirou made his way towards the bathroom. Once he had dressed his wound and gotten into a clean set of clothes he could sit down with Saber, talk about everything that happened and have some dinner. His stomach chose that moment to let out a growl.

Not necessarily in that order.

* * *

><p>In the kitchen, in a clean set of clothes, he felt much more at ease. Saber sat in the other room sipping at a cup of tea he had prepared for her. She had wanted to speak with him as well but had relented when he mentioned fixing them something to eat. Something he would have to keep in mind for future reference.<p>

As expected, the shirt that he had been wearing was completely unsalvageable, and now graced the rest of the garbage with its presence. His pants, on the other hand, weren't nearly as bad off as he'd feared. There was some blood, but most of it seemed to have been absorbed by his shirt. And against the dark material of his pants, it was much harder to tell what the substance had been. So even if the stains didn't completely come out, he could still use them for work clothes or to wear around the house.

Too tired to do anything fancy tonight, he settled for fixing a simple stew with a side of bread, which he was currently putting the finishing touches on.

Now that he thought about it, hadn't he also promised to fix lunch for Taiga tomorrow? And there was still breakfast to consider. He would have to look into going to the store soon, he was running low on a few things.

For now, he contented himself with filling two bowels with his latest meal and calling Saber to join him at the table. Faster than he had seem her move yet, Saber was in her seat and digging into her meal. Somehow, she was maintaining her former level of grace while simultaneously digging into her meal with a gusto few he had ever seen match.

Grocery shopping was definitely something he would have to look into soon, especially if he was going to be feeding another bottomless pit.

By the time he had finished his first bowel she was halfway through her third. He was beginning to worry that he would have to make more. But after her fifth bowel, which consisted of what was left of his hastily prepared meal, he was happy to see her push away her bowel. The smile on her face could only have been summed up as content.

"That was very good Shirou," she said, no sign of exaggeration in her words. "It's been some time since I had a meal as good as this one."

Flushing slightly at the praise, Shirou rubbed the back of his neck shyly. "It was nothing really; I'll try to make you something better tomorrow."

"Now that the meal is out of the way, we should focus on our preparations for the coming battles." Her tone was completely serious now, all traces of her previous good mood vanishing in an instant.

"What battles are you talking about?" It was an honest question; he really didn't understand anything about the situation he was in now.

The look she gave him made him want to gulp. She didn't look angry, not really. But he got the feeling she really didn't like where their conversation was going.

"That war that you summoned me for Master," her tone was slow and deliberate. "We are to take part in the Holy Grail…Tournament." Her voice became almost uncertain at the end of her sentence.

_And now we're back to master,_ Shirou thought to himself. Still, he wasn't stupid enough to call attention to that right now. Or how hesitant she seemed to become towards the end of her last sentence, instead he focused on answering her question as delicately as he could.

"I'm sorry Saber; I'm not sure what tournament you mean. I was investigating a strange magical presence in the area when I found the artifact that triggered your summoning."

"Explain," it wasn't a request, but with as much detail as he could remember Shirou revealed the events that led him to summoning her. Saber was silent the entire time and he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

She stayed quiet for a time once he'd finished his tale, reaching out for her cup of, most likely cold, tea. She took a few sips, staring into the liquid in thought, before looking up at him again.

"I understand Master; allow me to explain the situation then. The Holy Grail Tournament is a fight to the death between different Servants until only one remains. Servants are Heroic Spirits call forth from the Throne of Heroes. That servant and their master are then granted a single wish from the Holy Grail, an artifact of incredible power capable of granting nearly any wish."

Shirou waited for a few moments, hoping that there was more information available than this. Fortunately, Saber still had a few things to say.

"This was once called the Holy Grail War, where seven pairs fought for the Holy Grail within the confines of a single city. Unfortunately, circumstances seem to have changed."

He nodded, trying to pretend that any of this made real sense to him and he wasn't totally lost. "Changed…how?"

"I'm not sure," she admitted, rubbing her head with a free hand. "I know that things have changed, but can't seem to recall what they are the way they are now."

"Well why don't you sleep on it," Shirou suggested. Yes, sleep would do them both some good. Things might make for sense for him if he looked at them after a good night sleep.

Unlikely, but was grateful for any reason that allowed him to put an end to this bizarre day.

"Yes," Saber seemed just as happy to move away from the topic. "Where will we be sleeping tonight?"

Ignoring her awkward choice of words, Shirou pointed out another topic he had meant to bring up. "Don't you need something else to wear for bed though? And you'll definitely need something else to wear outside tomorrow. No offence, but wearing that is going to draw a lot of attention to you."

Not answering him verbally, Saber closed her eyes. In a flash of light that made him blink, her armor vanished. In its place was a plain white blouse with a blue bow around her collar and a long blue skirt. Her legs were covered with long black stocking that disappeared into a pair of brown boots.

As convenient as he could see this being, Shirou just found himself wishing that she had done this earlier when they had been coming home. Instead, he just nodded and began to gather up the dishes. It wasn't all that late, but he was getting pretty tired. So once he had the dishes put away he would get ready for bed. Fortunately, tomorrow was Saturday. With no imminent tests or homework in the way and a day off on Sunday, he could get through class easily enough. Sadly, he had one last challenge to overcome before he could go to sleep.

Entering his room to change, he was surprised to find that he had company. Saber had removed her boots but was otherwise unchanged and seemed to be making herself rather comfortable on his bed. He assumed that she simply hadn't found the guest room he had pointed out earlier sitting at the end of the hallway.

"Saber, this is my room." The direct approach was probably best in this situation. The response he got was a rather surprised blink.

"I know," Saber stated, not making any move to get out of the room or even off his bed.

"I'm turning in now, I've had a pretty long day and I have school tomorrow."

Saber frowned, the school thing was worrying in its own way but she was starting to see where her master was going with this. Why did her masters have to insist on making this as difficult as possible for her?

"Understood, I will remain here to help guard you in your sleep."

Shirou stared at her blankly for several seconds before he began to laugh, a nervous, awkward sort of thing that didn't suggest he was in any way amused.

"You aren't sleeping in my room."

"I need to be nearby if someone attempts to kill you," Saber refuted, getting upset by what she saw as a needless complication.

"No one is going to sneak in to my home and try to kill me," Shirou was getting frustrated by the day's refusal to simply end like he wanted it too.

"They may not have too," his Servant snapped back. "They could simply shoot you from a distance or blow up your home. That's why it's so important for me to be nearby to protect you!"

Shirou bit his lip to keep from snapping back. It had been a long day and it wasn't worth snapping at her for the problems it would likely cause later. That said, he was really too tired to argue about this.

"You can stay in the room next door. It's a little smaller than the one I mentioned earlier, but you'll be right there if something happens. Okay?"

Saber was far from satisfied with the situation, but grudgingly accepted the compromise. If nothing else, the walls were thin enough that she could probably force her way through them if it became necessary. Politely excusing herself, she left the room. She needed time to sort through her new situation anyway, frustrating new Master included.

Shirou watched his new house guest close the door with a bit more force than necessary and sighed. He knew he hadn't been as diplomatic back there as he could have been. But it had been a very long day for him and he was too tired to think properly right now.

He barely managed to get out of his clothes before falling into bed. He was asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

* * *

><p>The next morning had stated out normally enough, until he saw his bandaged shoulder when he started to get dressed and realized that he hadn't simply dreamed up the whole encounter. Resisting the urge to sigh, he went to put on a clean set of clothes so that he could get moving. There was no reason to put off seeing Saber again anyway.<p>

On the positive side, the arrow wound he had gotten had all but disappeared. Only a faint mark showed where he had been hit, and even that didn't look like it would leave a scar. Chalking it up to his usual impressive healing ability, he didn't bother replacing the bandages and simply finished getting dressed.

Making breakfast, sadly, was not the relaxing activity it usually was. Not only was he cooking for an extra person today, but he also had to worry about the lunch that he had promised his guardian, and he had to worry about both of these things while facing a dwindling kitchen of supplies. Still, this was a challenge he was confident he could overcome!

He found Saber, looking as dignified as she always did, reading a book of his in the living room. At some point she had drawn her hair back into a bun with a blue ribbon. Where she had gotten it he didn't know, but assumed she had found it in one of the drawers of odds and ends that he had around the house.

He wasn't a pack rat, not really, but you never knew when something would come in handy. Besides, he was one of the few people today who believed in fixing things instead of simply throwing them away and replacing them.

The food had barely left the stove when Saber appeared at the table. She didn't say anything, but her eyes closely followed the large omelet he had prepared as it left the skillet. The smile he felt creeping up his face at her expression disappeared when his front door banged open.

"Shirou, we're here to eat!" Taiga's voice boomed out with its usual force. He could only assume that 'we're' meant Sakura was with her as well. Had missing one day make him forget his guardian's usual habits when it came to showing up for food?

How had he not considered this?

A glance behind him showed Saber preparing herself for a fight, but at least the armor hadn't made an appearance yet. "Saber, you need to hide!"

The blond servant looked from him, the door, and finally to the meal he had just finished making. "But…" It was just long enough for Taiga to force her way into the kitchen, Sakura trailing behind her with her usual embarrassed look when the older woman did something like this. Unlike Taiga, who went directly for him, or the food, hard to tell really, Sakura actually took in the blond stranger standing in her sempai's kitchen with a surprised look on her face.

Fujimura Taiga, known to most as simply Taiga, was a fairly attractive young woman. Short brown hair framed a soft looking face that belied her naturally aggressive personality. Soft brown eyes glanced between him and his simple meal eagerly. Taiga was, in addition to being his guardian and former house mate, was also his homeroom and English teacher at school. She had also received, unwillingly, the nickname of Tiger for her personality.

And, far less well known, was her status as a local yakuza princess.

Despite having been his guardian for so many years, or perhaps because of knowing her for so long, he had trouble seeing her in any sort of parental light. Her own age and attitude did not help her case in the slightest. He honestly saw her as more of an older sister, which helped that she rarely tried to exert her guardian position over him outside his school attendance and performance. That was one thing that she watched closely, but rarely had room to complain about.

She, of course, had no idea that he was a magus. Partly because it wasn't a part of his life to share with just anyone, and partly because he didn't think she would keep her mouth shut.

"Is breakfast ready," her usual hunger obvious as she reached out for the plate, he swatted her hand away with practiced ease while she frowned.

"I'll have it out in just a minute, take your seat." Pouting, his guardian did as she was told. Daring to look, he was sad to find that Saber had not managed to make herself disappear at some point. Instead, she had watched the interaction with an odd look. But at least didn't appear ready to lash out anymore. Sakura, looking nervously between them, took her usual seat next to him.

Breakfast was served a short while later. It was only after she had begun to dig into her meal that his guardian took notice of the extra person sitting at the table, digging into her own decent sized plate of food.

"Hey, who are you?" The question was emphasized by the way she pointer her fork at Saber. The blonde met her gaze coolly, and continued chewing her mouthful of food. Not getting an answer quickly enough for her taste, Taiga turned to Shirou. "Who is she and why is she here?"

Shirou took a moment to swallow before answering. "She's a new friend of mine."

"And where did you meet her?" One of the disadvantages of having Taiga as a teacher meant he couldn't use the friend from school approach that otherwise might have worked. Even if she wasn't in her class, there was no way Taiga would have not noticed a girl like this at school before.

"We met last night," Saber cut in. "We spoke for a while after I asked for directions and he ended up treating me to a meal. Unfortunately, I lost track of time and was unable to find boarding before it got dark out. Shirou offered to let me use a spare room of his for the night."

She managed to look Taiga dead in the eye when she said all this, which gave Shirou just enough time to wipe the stunned look off of his face at the blatant lie. Not seeing any deception, Taiga turned her attention back to her young charge.

"So you just invited a girl you didn't know into your home? Just what were you planning?"

"Nothing," he had to nip this in the bud before his guardian got the wrong idea, otherwise she would never stop. "We had something to eat and she needed a place to say. I don't know about any hotels around here and you know I couldn't just leave her on the street."

Her expression softened a bit towards the end of his explanation and she rubbed her forehead with her free hand, closing her eyes in the process. "Yeah, that sounds like something you would do."

Looking at the clock, the teacher realized she hadn't finished off her meal with her usual speed and began wolfing down the omelet. Rushing to her feet, she grabbed her bag to get going but turned around to address them one more time.

"You'll be out of here by tonight," it wasn't really a question but Saber answered it as such.

"I will leave once circumstances permit it." It wasn't really a promise to leave, but Taiga was satisfied enough to turn her attention back to Shirou, looking even more serious.

"Don't forget about lunch." With that, the excitable woman rushed out of the house.

Unsure of what to say to that, Shirou watched her exit with a mixture of amusement and worry.

"I should leave too," turning around he saw Sakura push away her mostly eaten plate. "I have a few things to take care of before class. I'll see you in school sempai."

Watching his friend leave without him felt a bit strange, but it was probably for the best right now. He needed to go over a few things with Saber before he left anyway. Turning back to her the blonde servant offered up her now empty plate to him with a hopeful expression.

"More please."

After she had been fed and watered of course.

* * *

><p>School had been fairly ordinary really, aside from the odd glances that he had caught Sakura sending him a few times. Taiga had accepted her carefully prepared lunch with all the grace he had come to expect from her, which involved a quick thank you followed by her digging in.<p>

Getting to school had actually been far trickier than getting through it. Saber had been very reluctant to allow him to go once she realized what his intention was, and then she had insisted that she would join him at school to protect him. She had stressed the dangers inherent in separating herself from him, even in such a public place, though he got the feeling that she was exaggerating things just a little. In the end, she said that she would keep an eye on him while he went to class and promised not to be seen. He had gotten through his first few classes without seeing so much as a hint of his Servant, or any feelings that he might have been being watched.

If she hadn't mysteriously appeared to join him for lunch on the roof, by taking a good portion of his meal, he would have thought she hadn't been around at all. He had been worried that someone would catch them, but the roof remained as deserted as it usually was, the students preferring the grounds or classrooms which actually had somewhere to sit comfortably and chat.

After that, he didn't see her again until he found her waiting for him by the front gate; a short while after clubs had let out and most of the student body had already gone home. Taiga having roped him into helping her with a few demonstrations with the kendo club, and he couldn't think of a way to get out of it without drawing more attention from his guardian.

On the bright side, he and Saber should have some privacy for a while after this. Taiga had family duties on weekends in addition to her teaching duties and almost never stopped by this time of the week. Likewise, Sakura had things to do with her own family on weekends. She had never told him what they were, and he didn't pry, but Sunday was the one day he was used to eating alone.

He had wanted to get straight to work on dinner, but Saber had insisted that they get down to discussing strategy before they did anything else. For once, it seemed that her appetite was not enough to distract her from the task at hand. He was tempted to argue, but she had seemed upset enough at all the delays and risks he was taking, so he held his tongue.

He had the distinct feeling that Saber could be very scary when she chose to be and had no desire to test that feeling.

Unfortunately, their discussion was further delayed when he found a package resting on his living room table, which he was almost certain, had not been there when they had left. It was a long thing wrapped in plain brown paper with no markings or postage that he could see. Not that a delivery man would have brought it inside when the house was locked.

Cautiously opening the package, he found two things inside of it. The first was a sword, looking European in style, though he was far from an expert in such things. The other was a small handheld computer, a tablet he believed it was called, some of the better off members at school had them and they were supposed to be very expensive. That was the only real reason he knew what the item was called. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Saber pick up the sword, drawing it partially from its sheath with an appraising look on her face.

He was distracted from this when the computer in his hands suddenly turned itself on. There was a single message on the screen that brought an uncomfortable weight to his stomach.

_Welcome Master, to the Holy Grail Tournament!_

* * *

><p>Not a lot of action I know, but it'll come, I promise. But there are a few things that I would like to make clear now.<p>

First, I try to keep all characters as true to themselves as the situation calls for. There might be some changes, but I'll try to avoid making anyone horribly out of character. I might need to take some liberty with less established characters, but that'll come when it comes.

Second, I know that some people will be disappointed by the lack of action in this chapter. Sorry, but I felt that it was best to explain some of that the differences between this and the Holy Grail War before the real fighting. Don't worry, there's still plenty of violence and story left to come.

Third, while I may use suffix like san, chan, sama or simple words like sempai on occasion, I will not be using words to replace big things. I'm not sure I could do it properly and it's something that I would see myself messing up.

Fourth, I use the Type-Moon wiki for a lot of the little details here. So if I make a mistake, there's a fair chance that this is what the website said. That or I was just too busy to check something, either way.

Fifth, romance will likely be slow in coming. While there will be smatterings of fluff and other moments throughout the story, there won't be any serious romance for some time to come, which I'm sure will be disappointing to some. While it may be too quick for some to label realistic, there will be some buildup.

Sixth, Saber herself is a little unsure of the situation right now. She has been called over for the Holy Grail War before, several times actually, and like the other Servants had information about the modern world downloaded into her each time. I'm assuming that it would also have included some knowledge of the war and now of the tournament for the Servants benefit. Now, she's been summoned for a different battle. She knows it, but it's conflicting with what she already knows.

Seventh, no, you are not supposed to understand the full extent of the changes at this point. Honestly, you shouldn't understand a number of the things I'm doing right now. Next chapter should have much more information on the Holy Grail Tournament and a few other things as well. That said, you'll just have to keep reading to see where it goes.

Eighth, I'm not sure if that's really how Saber can change into or out of her armor so quickly, but it's how I'll be doing it. I will probably have other Servants doing the same thing as well, if it ever comes up.

Ninth, does anyone know the exact dates involved with the start of the Fifth Holy Grail War, if that was ever established in canon? It's not a huge deal but it might help.

Tenth, if Saber seems to be taking this too calmly it may be because she hasn't seen any other servants yet. Or any other enemies either, that's why she's willing to bend a bit more, it'll come though.

Eleventh, Taiga didn't get as much attention as I think she should have in canon, so I might do a bit more with her in the begging than canon did. Sadly, she will have to be left behind eventually when the plot gets going. In the meantime, I see bits comic relief in her future.

Twelfth, the tablet that I've introduced, which I haven't given a fancy name too yet, will be the main source of information about the Holy Grail Tournament and servants from this point forward. And yes, that is to save me from having to write many, many conversations about the tournament rules and such.

Finally, please take a few moments to review. Feedback keeps me going and I have never heard of an author who wasn't able to update because of too many reviews! Critiques, comments, questions, all of these are acceptable.


	3. Taking the Initiative

Disclaimer: I do not own Fate/Stay Night or any other series that may be represented within this story.

Well, the second chapter seems to have been a success, in my opinion at least. Thank you to everyone who took the time to share your thoughts with me, it really means a lot.

A special commemoration for this chapter goes out to Rioshi-Sama, my tenth reviewer.

I will not be able to start work on the next chapter until I finish with my last final of the semester on Wednesday. Sorry, but school has to come first here. Honestly, I'm surprised with the speed that I've been updating as it is.

* * *

><p>Chapter Three: Taking the Initiative<p>

Some people would have found it odd to return to a place they had been trapped in, however briefly, and nearly killed. Even Shirou had to question the wisdom of his actions now, but considering what he had learned the night before, he quickly decided that the risks involved were necessary ones. If nothing else, he was better prepared for what was coming than he had been before.

Saber was walking next to him, fortunately wearing her civilian outfit, though the sword was in its sheath at her side hurt the casual image that he was hoping they would present. Oddly enough, no one paid much attention to the weapon the girl was carrying. Maybe they thought it was a cosplay prop or a decoration of some kind. She had her usual controlled look on her face, but he couldn't help but think that she looked just a little bit eager.

This had all come about because of the revelations from the night before, the revelation that he needed to be at least a little proactive to prevent the worst of the tragedies from occurring again.

* * *

><p>His talk with Saber had been put on hold to examine the small machine that had addressed him as Master of all things. Once he got over the surprise, he started to look through the files on the tablet.<p>

Or he tried to at least, unfamiliar with computers as he was he ended up closing programs unintentionally or opening the wrong ones as often as he did what he'd intended.

That said, what he did manage to gleam from his research made him distinctly uncomfortable.

"Saber," he drew his Servants attention away from where she had been handling the sword she had found in the package. She looked a little embarrassed to have been caught spacing out, but dutifully brought her attention back to him.

"Yes, are you done playing with that contraption now?"

"Not quite yet," Shirou muttered, but placed the computer aside for a moment anyway. "You said that there were supposed to be seven Servants involved in the Holy Grail War, right?"

"Yes," she nodded at him. "That was the case. Why do you ask?"

"Because I don't think that's how it is anymore. According to the information on this thing there are forty-nine Servants involved this time, seven from each of the classes."

Blinking, Saber reached over and plucked the tablet from where he'd put it on the table. Unfortunately, she closed the file he had just opened in doing so. Narrowing her eyes, Saber tried to open the file she had just closed.

Incredibly, she might actually have been worse with computers that he was. After several minutes of mashing buttons and glaring at the frustrating little machine she simply handed it back to Shirou without a word. Silently, he tried to open the file she had accidentally closed.

He didn't say anything, for his own sake really, but he personally thought she looked kind of cute fuming like that.

Once he had the right file open, he handed the previously called contraption back to her. As she read her expression slowly changed, from upset, to surprised, to worried, in its own rather subtle way. Once she finished, she calmly set the tablet down on the table and began to rub her hands together nervously.

"This is bad," she said quietly.

"It's not all that bad," Shirou said to try and improve her mood, only to wince slightly at the look Saber gave him.

"Of course it's that bad! Our enemies are far more numerous that I expected. And this outline, this tournament is spread out across the entire country! This situation is far different from what I was prepared for and-"

Seeing his Servant getting ready to go into a full blown rant, Shirou decided to cut her off before she really got going.

"But if you weren't prepared for this, then I doubt anyone else really is. We know more now than we did yesterday, so at least we know what to prepare for."

Watching him, Saber seemed to calm down somewhat. "You are correct Master, I apologize. I should not have overreacted the way I did."

She handed the computer back to him one more time before she continued.

"I have felt it since I arrived here, but wasn't sure what the cause was. My strength has been diminished, and now I see that it was intentional by the Holy Grail as a part of my summoning."

While she spoke he managed to bring up her profile, her stats were listed as E in all categories. There was other information about her as well, height, weight, things you would find on a routine medical exam.

And, to his embarrassment, her measurements as well, why anyone felt that had to be included in here he had no idea.

"Now the question remains of how best to restore my strength and if battle is the quickest way to do so, so be it." She looked him in the eye as she continued. "Master, tomorrow we should return to the location my summoning occurred. If there are enemies there then that is the best place to start. There may be some danger Master, but I am prepared to face it."

She sounded so determined that by the end of her speech he was actually very impressed. Unfortunately, he couldn't bring himself to match her excitement.

"I don't like it," she blinked in surprise at his answer, having hoped for something more supportive. "I don't like the idea of you fighting, but if this is really what you want I'll do my best to support you."

Her response, whatever it was going to be, was lost when her stomach chose that moment to let out a growl.

Amused at her reaction, Shirou smiled at the slightly embarrassed girl sitting apart from him.

"Would you like me to make you something," he resisted the urge to grin at her quick nod. Getting up and walking towards the kitchen he decided that any real strategizing could wait until they had something to eat.

XXX

After dinner, they had tried to come up with a decent strategy for working through the dungeon that Saber had been summoned in. While he wasn't sure it could be accurately be called a strategy, Saber had informed him of some of her abilities, weakened as they might have been. He had also looked through the tablet, which according to the information within was officially known as the Mystic Tablet, the computer was somehow powered by magical energy from the environment.

There was no way he was going to call it such a silly name of course. He didn't care if it was a computer running on magic!

Unfortunately, outside the file on what was called stage one and the information on Saber, none of the rest seemed particularly useful for planning out the tournament. That said, a few of the other files were fairly interesting, like the ones on the history of the Holy Grail Wars. Even if that wasn't what they were fighting anymore, knowing about the old battles and tactics could be useful. It was actually the reports of civilian casualties that convinced him that a proactive approach was the best option in the tournament. The sooner the battles stopped, the less people were likely to die.

There was also supposed to be some kind of supervisor for the Holy Grail War, but he wasn't sure if one existed for the tournament because of the lack of boundaries. And if there was one, how was he supposed to get in touch with them.

But that could be worked through later. They weren't going to be facing any other Servants today, or he hoped that they weren't.

Getting into the home that had the mirror in it was no more difficult this time around, though he had taken a few moments to explain to explain to Saber that simply walking in through the front door was a bad idea. So once the street was reasonably deserted, they went around back. From there, it was a short trip to the room with the mirror in it. Saber only paused long enough to switch into her armor at the foot of the stairs in a familiar flash of light.

* * *

><p>The trip was the same as Shirou remembered it; a minor drain of prana followed an incredible sense of disorientation. The biggest difference was that Saber had taken hold of his arm in hers before he touched the mirror, and if it weren't for the thick layer of armor between them he might have found the closeness oddly distracting.<p>

Saber had been very reluctant in allowing him to come, citing how much easier it would be for him to get killed in here. The argument that followed lasted almost half an hour and only ended when Shirou pointed out how bad it would be if he was attacked by an enemy Servant when Saber wasn't around to save him. Begrudgingly, she had agreed at that point, but kept insisting that he remain close to her at all times.

He didn't lose his footing this time, though that may have had more to do with his grip on Sabers arm than having actually gotten used to the intense spinning sensation. But as long as he didn't end up on the floor again he didn't particularly care.

Looking around, he found he was back in the room that Saber had been summoned in, instead of the hallway he had been dumped into when he had first arrived. A look around the stone room gave him an odd feeling of nostalgia; it was amazing what could change for a person in a mere two days.

Saber didn't waste any time reminiscing, she simply drew her sword and headed straight for the door. The look of concentration on her face spoke of the many battles she had fought in the past. Shirou followed behind her quickly to avoid being left behind.

The hallway directly in front of them was deserted, but Shirou had learned before just how quickly that could change. Closing the door behind them, he trailed after his Servant as she set a cautious pace down the hall. They hadn't even made it to the end before one of the golems from yesterday rounded the corner.

A Clockwork Archer, they were supposed to be called. There had been a file on them in the tablet that they had gone through yesterday, though it hadn't given him any major weaknesses to use against them.

In the time it took that thought to process, Saber was already moving. Before the automaton could even raise its arm Saber had cleared the distance between them. In a blur of silver her blade flashed out, carving straight through the golems head and allowing it to collapse in a heap at her feet. The entire encounter had taken no more than five seconds, leaving Shirou to stare at his Servant in shock.

What happened next was almost as amazing to him. An orb of blue light emerged from the golem's chest and drew itself into Saber. His Servant lit up for a brief moment in a slight blue glow that reminded him somewhat of the lightshow from her summoning. The remains of the broken golem simply laid there, an odd mixture of wood and metal, on the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.

Looking back at him, Saber actually smiled at the look on his face. Hopefully this would be enough to push away any doubts he had about her fighting in the future.

"We should keep going, there are still more enemies to come." Her voice was dead serious as the amused expression on her face vanished. He could only nod as they left the broken golem behind and continued moving.

The next four Clockwork Archers were destroyed in much the same way. With their slow reflexes, it was easy for Saber to clear the distance between them before they could fire and it never took more than one swing of her blade to eliminate the threats. Each one of them released the same foreign energy as the first one, which was promptly absorbed by Saber. In one case, he even got a chance to examine the inside of one the golems Saber was destroying.

Rather than take off the head, Saber had gutted one of the magically powered machines. From what he could see, underneath the wooden chest was an odd assortment of gears, briefly moving even after the golem was slain. Behind the gears was what looked like a small, glass prism, inside it was the same blue light he had been seeing from the other defeated machines. The energy flowed out of the machine after the gears stopped moving, merging with Saber. He had to wonder if that weird energy was what powered the machines, or if it somehow granted them their limited awareness.

Magi were, at their core, researchers after all. And even Shirou, who didn't exactly live a standard magus lifestyle, was tempted to try and take one of the machines back home with him to try to figure out how it worked. Of course, lugging the broken machine around with them right now would have been foolish, so he shelved the idea for the moment.

It was after the fifth Clockwork Archer was defeated that something changed. As soon as the golem's broken form hit the floor, a new enemy emerged from behind a corner in front of them.

It was no taller than the golem that they had seen so far, but it seemed bulkier somehow. The layer of gray armor that covered its entire form, complete with helmet, might have been the reason for that. It was also humanoid, though he had little doubt that there was no human inside of it. Clenched in its armored right hand was a sword, just less than two feet long by his measure and in its left was an emblem less round shield.

Compared to its more fragile looking counterparts, it looked much more intimidating at it stomped towards them.

Saber didn't hesitate for a moment at the sight of the new opponent; she simply raised her blade and confronted them. Sadly, this enemy didn't fall nearly as quickly as the others did. While she easily danced around it's, even to him, heavily choreographed strikes, she didn't seem to be doing any real damage to it either. Her strikes carved shallowly into its armor, and the lack of blood that flowed enforced Shirou's belief that there was no human in the armor, and left dents in its shield.

Apparently realizing that she wasn't doing it any real damage, Saber waited until the golem overextended itself with an overhead strike before driving her blade through her opponents head, helmet and all. The enemy twitched for a second before collapsing forward, its armored form causing a much louder racket when they hit the wooden floor compared to the wooden golems when they feel. But far more familiar was the blue energy that left the defeated the enemy. It may have been his imagination, but the light seemed just a little bit stronger than the ones that had left the archers.

The entire battle had taken just under fifty seconds.

Not looking at all winded by the exchange, Saber drew her sword from the defeated opponents head. Looking back, as if to make sure that he was still there, Shirou met her gaze and nodded, trying to give her an encouraging smile. Apparently taking that as direction to move forward, Saber turned around and continued down the hall. Shirou followed her, briefly examine the sword of the defeated golem before moving on, it wouldn't suit him as well as Sabers sword seemed to suit her, and he was rather weary of getting in between her and her next opponent. He let his mind wonder as he considered the blade that his Servant was currently wielding.

It wasn't a normal weapon, even disregarding how it had arrived in his home he could tell that much. Like the mirror that acted as a portal to this strange place, and the computer currently sitting in his pocket, the materials that made it up were unnaturally perfect. Shirou couldn't say why, but he had a feeling that if he examined the blade now he wouldn't see anything wrong with the sword, even after its short confrontation with a suit of armor and a shield he doubted there would be any noticeable cracks.

It was a mystery for another time, like so many other strange things that seemed to be happening to him over the last few days.

Their trip through the tunnels continued in this way for a while still. Several more Clockwork Archers were destroyed, most of them defeated before even getting the chance to get off a shot, while the only one that did got its arrow knocked out of the sky by his Servants sword as she almost lazily knocked the projectile out of the air. There were also two more Clockwork Soldiers, as the computer he had claimed they were called, to be dealt with. Each one was dealt with in the same way as their predecessor, with a blade through their skull.

Unfortunately, Saber seemed that she was starting to feel the strain at this point. Her posture didn't change in the slightest, but her flushed cheeks and increased breathing gave away the strain that her body was beginning to feel. Especially due to her weakened condition. Deciding that now was as good a time as any to take a short break, Shirou lead her to a small room to rest despite her protests.

Looking at the layout of the floor on his computer had shown Shirou that the area was not nearly as big as he had feared it was. In fact, being forced to double back and avoid the golems had been the main reason the floor had seemed so large the first time he was here. At random points it seemed the hallways lead to either dead ends or doors, Saber insisted on exploring as much as possible, so these rooms had been examined. So far each room had been small and empty. Still, it was as good a place as any to relax and catch your breath.

Honestly, Shirou was feeling a bit useless at this point. He had come along because he worried that Saber might need his help in here, but so far she had shown no trouble dispatching her enemies. He only knew a handful of spells, and none of them were truly suited for combat, with the possible exception of a sickness curse he knew, but he didn't see that as being very useful against the wood and metal opponents that they were facing now. So far all he had done was carry around some medical supplies and some food and water that looked like it was finally going to be put to good use.

Settling himself onto the wooden floor across from Saber, Shirou reached into his bag for a pair of water bottles, one of which he handed to the Servant, who gave him a nod of thanks despite her apparent annoyance at being forced to take a breather. After that came forth a pair of carefully wrapped sandwiches, prepared that morning just in case they needed the food.

Saber ended up decimating her own sandwich in what looked like only three bites, so he ended up half of his own to her while he rushed to finish the other half. Draining her water bottle just as quickly, Saber got to her feet.

"Thank you Shirou, but we cannot waste more time like this. If you'd like, you can stay here while I go on ahead."

Shirou promptly shook his head and placed the remains of their rushed meal back into the bag he'd brought the food in. The wrappers would go into the trash later while the water bottles met the recycling to be used for something else. If there was one thing Shirou knew, it was how to clean up a mess.

"No, I'm coming with you," he shouldered his pack and went to stand beside her.

Saber watched him out of the corner of her eye, unsure of how to feel about this. On one hand, a Master who didn't treat her like a tool or shove her aside as much as possible was a nice change of pace. Other the other hand, she wasn't sure she liked the protective tendencies that Shirou had been showing so far.

Despite this, she decided not to say anything about the situation for the moment. As long as there were no other Servants around she felt she could provide adequate protection for her Master, and if one did show up she would need to be there to protect him. This was the logic that led her to accepting his company here in the first place after all.

Putting those thoughts behind her for the moment, Saber opened the door and froze.

A pair of Clockwork Soldiers stood waiting for them on the other side. Caught off guard, Saber barely managed to get her weapon up in time to stop a potentially disemboweling blow. The other one lashed out with its own blade and forced her back a step, allowing her two opponents to enter the room in front of her.

Now Saber was really cursing herself. Honestly, allowing them to be boxed in like this simply because she was beginning to tire was inexcusable. Now not only was she in danger, but Shirou was as well.

Fortunately she still had a few tricks left.

To Shirou, it seemed that her body had begun to glow again. Though somewhat dimmer than the light from when she was summoned her, it was none the less impressive. But this time the glow extended to her blade as well.

Then she struck out with it.

Her attack impacted against the shield of the right hand soldier, detonating in a blast that annihilated most of the golems left side. The one on the left fared no better, Sabers attack cleaving through its blade and slicing her opponent in half. The force behind the slash knocked away both halves of the defeated puppet. Once her last opponent fell, Saber fell to one knee, gasping for air even as more energy was drawn into her.

It took Shirou a moment to realize what he had just seen. Prana Burst, one of Sabers personal abilities and one she had mentioned during their brief strategy sessions. It was a technique that involved drawing out large amounts of prana to increase strength and speed, or at least that was how Saber had made it sound.

Apparently, it was also a very draining technique.

Rushing to her side, Shirou leaned down to check on her. It took a few moments, but Saber seemed to catch her breath. Another moment and the blonde servant returned to her feet.

"I am fine, Shirou," she insisted quietly. "I simply needed a moment to recover, we should continue now." Shirou was a lot less certain.

"Maybe we should leave," his suggestion was met with a stern look, mildly flushed as she was right now Saber still managed to look rather intimidating.

"That is not necessary, I can continue from here." Apparently considering the matter closed, Saber made her way over the broken golems in front of her and moved down the hall.

"Wait!" Drawing out the tablet while Saber turned around, Shirou took a moment to find the program he was looking for. The map function, which currently showed an outline of the areas they had visited in the dungeon, also showed their location and the location of the exit. Much of what had been seen was complete, but there was one long hallway closer to the exit that had yet to be checked.

"Why don't we start working our way back now? We've done a lot and it won't be good for us to be too far from the exit if too many of those armored suits show up."

Saber seemed to consider his words for a second before nodding.

"Very well Shirou, for your safety we will begin heading for the entrance." Once again, she concluded their conversation complete and started back down the hall. Watching her retreating form, Shirou tried to stop himself from groaning.

Saber clearly didn't intend to make this easy on him.

* * *

><p>The way back was actually a fair bit easier than the way forward had been. Only two Clockwork Archers showed up to get in their way, with none of their armored counterparts making an appearance.<p>

Shirou did his best to keep track of their place on the map while simultaneously trying to look over his shoulder so that nothing crept up on them. Though so far none of the enemies they had encountered had shown any inclination towards stealth, it seemed a reasonable enough precaution.

Locating the previously unexplored hallway, Shirou allowed Saber to lead the way in much the same way she had done so far. The hall was a short one that stretched off to either side towards its end. While one of those ends let to a stone wall the other contained a door. Like the others, the door was closed and unlocked.

The room inside was just as empty as the others had been, but Shirou wasn't disappointed by that. If it meant getting out of this insane place alive again he was more than happy to accept an anticlimactic ending. Seeing Saber collapse to her knees earlier had affected him more than he had expected, though he didn't think he was being strange about the situation at all.

Really, especially considering just how strange the situation had been so far.

With that done, he began to lead Saber back to the exit.

* * *

><p>The traveling sensation was no less unpleasant, or draining, but it was becoming steadily more familiar, unfortunately for him. Saber seemed to have figured out he had some sort of trouble with the travel and held his arm to keep him from falling over.<p>

Once the sensation passed, he realized that they weren't alone in the room.

Despite the lack of electrical lighting, there was more than enough sun coming in through the windows to make out the rooms third occupant. Long black hair was pulled into a pair of pigtails, held in place by black ribbons. A red turtleneck shirt with a small silver cross on the chest was placed above a marginally too short black skirt. Brown shoes covered the bottom of a pair of long black socks.

This was Rin Tohsaka, school idol and classmate of his. But it wasn't the fact that she had just seen him and Saber, who was still in her combat outfit and carrying a sword, appear out of thin air that made him worry.

It was her face, usually formed into a rather attractive smile to enforce her idol image, was currently set in one of the most forced smiles he had ever seen. An angry blotch of red was starting to cover her cheeks.

"Well Emiya-kun, this is certainly unexpected."

Maybe he would have been better off risking his life back in the mirror with Saber.

* * *

><p>Well, it may not have been the epic battle that most people were expecting, or hoping for, but I definitely see confrontation in the future. At the bottom you can find a few entries from the foolishly named Mystic Tablet, but there are a few things I'll take the time to confirm or deny now.<p>

First, yes, all of Sabers stats have been reduced to E level and she has temporarily lost her Noble Phantasm. The same is true for all servants just after they are summoned for the Holy Grail Tournament, so they have to fight in order to regain their strength. This can be done with monsters, other Servants, or simply by away draining the life of humans.

Second, I will not be showing all forty-nine Servants. That said, I will be showing more than the seven from Fate/Stay Night. So many lesser known Servants may make appearances. I am not in need of OC Masters or Servants at this time; I'll look over any outline shown but make no promises to use them.

Third, I said it before but I'll say it again to be clear. There is not a crossover with Fate/Extra or any other videogame. There are videogame elements at work here, but there will be no crossovers like that. I will also try to limit videogame elements so that it doesn't take away from the story.

Forth, Rin's presence will be explained more in the next chapter. Some people might say having her there is unoriginal, and they may have a point, but I just couldn't miss out on the chance for her to lose her cool at missing out on Saber, this Saber at least.

Fifth, instead of long drawn out conversations descriptions of certain things will be handled by files from the Mystic Tablet. That's right, I gave it a name! These files can be found below.

Sixth, what did you think of the action this chapter? I know it wasn't great, but Saber wasn't facing great opponents. Even weakened as she is, she's still at a level above what most humans would ever be capable of.

Seventh, I hope that this shows Saber is still a force to be reckoned with, diminished as her strength is. Make no mistake, she will get stronger.

Eighth, I have already decided who the first Servant Saber confronts will be, though I doubt that any of you will be able to guess just who I've chosen for this.

Ninth, I know that I may not have gotten all of the factors involved with Prana Burst right, but I figured as long as I got the basic details right I could deal with the finer details later.

Tenth, like I said above, my last final is next Wednesday so I doubt I'll be able to update until that's done. On the bright side, I have a break after that until the next semester after that so I should have more time to write during that.

Eleventh, the Shirou in my story has little experience with computers, but isn't going to be as stupid with technology as some stories make him out to be.

Finally, please review, I value the words I receive from reviewers and I would like to hear what people think about my work.

* * *

><p><strong>Mystic Tablet Compendium!<strong>

**Information**

**Mystic Tablet: **In simplest terms, this is amagic computer loaded with information about the Holy Grail Tournament. Powered by mana, the artifact updates automatically where appropriate and can only be used by the Master that it is assigned too and their Servants. Meant to be unbreakable, the shell and screen and made from permanently reinforced materials to prevent damage.

**The Holy Grail Tournament: **A change brought about by the Holy Grail attempting to evolve from an attempt to destroy it and outside forces attempting to influence it in that time, add in certain modern influences and you have the Holy Grail Tournament. The Holy Grail Tournament is split into several stages, and is fought by a total of forty-nine Servants in a battlefield spread out across the country the tournament is initiated in.

**Soul Stones: **The reagent required for the summoning of Servants within the Holy Grail Tournament. Resembling nothing more than a small white stone, this item is meant to make it more difficult to acquire a servant and at the same time marks new Masters for the Holy Grail. This item will activate at contact with any human that has active Magic Circuits and requires little prana to work.

**Enemies**

**Clockwork Archer**

Type: Clockwork Golem

Rank: E

Description: A fragile golem composed of basic components that move with simple and slow movements. Fights with a crossbow built into its right wrist and is capable of cooperating with Clockwork Soldiers and other higher ranking golems of the Clockwork series.

**Clockwork Soldier**

Type: Clockwork Golem

Rank: D

Description: A lightly armored golem that wields a short sword in battle and guards with an attached shield, capable of organizing with other golems it excels in close combat and absorbs more punishment than most of its more fragile comrades.

**Servant Profiles**

**Saber**

Identity: Arturia Pendragon

Class: Saber

Master: Emiya, Shirou

Alignment: Lawful Good

**Stats**

N. Phantasm: E

Strength: E

Agility: E

Mana: E  
>Luck: E<p>

Endurance: E

**Class Skills**

Magic Resistance: E

Riding: E

**Personal Skills:**

Charisma: E

Instinct: E

Prana Burst: E

**Noble Phantasms:**

N/A

**Generic Information**

Gender: Female

Height: 154 cm

Weight: 42 kg

The Sizes: 73-53-76

Hair Color: Blonde

Eye Color: Green


	4. Actions and Reactions

Disclaimer: I do not own Fate/Stay Night or any other series that may be represented within this story.

I just said that I would not be able to get to work on my stories until after finals, but after studying all day I decided it won't hurt and took the time to start writing something. I managed to get the first few hundred words done before my last final exam. That being said, I didn't expect the rest of the chapter to take as long as it did. I had to do a bit of research and try and figure out what makes certain villains tick. I don't like two dimensional villains, so understanding their motivation helped keep them in character I think.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to review, it means a lot to me.

This chapter has a bit less of Shirou compared to my earlier chapters, but I think that it's both necessary and amusing to see what other characters are up too. Don't worry though, there will still be a fair amount of our favorite Master.

* * *

><p>Chapter Four: Actions and Reactions<p>

Rin had not been very happy lately, but few people knew her well enough to be aware of that. It had all started when she tried to summon a Servant, only to have the ritual backfire somehow.

Well, backfire may not have been the right word. When rituals backfired the results were usually disastrous, ending in the death of the one who had started the ritual. There hadn't been any damage done here, either to her or her home, so that was something to be grateful for.

And it wasn't as if nothing had happened when she tried to do the summoning.

There had been a flash of information, mostly a series of images, starting at her home and ending somewhere else in town. She realized the place held significance in helping her summon a Servant somehow, but knew no more than that. The place was familiar, she was fairly certain of that, but that didn't get her any closer to finding it. Fuyuki city was a pretty large place after all and there had to be hundreds of houses just like that one.

Not that little detail like these would stop her. Unfortunately, while she was a young woman of many, many magical talents, her ability to sense magic was, at best, average. Which left her going door to door, looking for something out of the ordinary, though she wasn't sure what she was looking for. This was after she had actually tried consulting with her guardian. The man had seemed as baffled about the situation as she was, but promised to look into it.

Stupid fake priest, why had she even waster her time trying to talk to him?

Her guardian proving that he was as useless as she usually considered him, Rin had continued on her own. Finally finding her way to this house, that had seemed so familiar because all the houses here that looked just like it! Frustration aside, she was fully prepared to go inside and finally claim her Servant.

Then she had walked upstairs to discover…this!

She recognized one of her classmates, though she couldn't say that she knew him very well. But the young woman standing beside him was clearly a Servant. And if the weapon and armored dress weren't a big enough clue, she could practically feel the magic coming off the girl. The idea that they were here together out of chance, however impossibly unlikely, was killed by the clearly magical entrance they had made.

Emiya had somehow gotten hold of a Servant, and Saber at that!

She tried to smile, really she did, but whatever she managed to produce was closer to a grimace as she fought hard to keep her temper down.

A jewel, one of the weaker ones that she had prepared for the tournament, felt oddly comfortable in her grip. She planned to take some kind of satisfaction away from the evening.

* * *

><p>Shirou was, rather understandably, confused. He had suspected for some time that there was another magic user at his school, but it had never been worth the risk of revealing him to scan people and find out who it was. Somehow, it had never occurred to him that Rin was a magus though. But with the magic he could feel coming off the jewel in her hand, it seemed like the only explanation. That was the only reason he wasn't trying to blurt out excuses for his impossible entrance right now.<p>

And he'd thought the surprises were done for the day, silly him.

The look that she was giving him said she wasn't in the mood for a friendly chat either. Still, he could at least try to talk his way out of this.

"Hello Tohsaka-san," he began, raising his hand in greeting. This just caused her exaggerated grin to stretch just a little bit more. He returned it with a forces smile of his own. "What brings you here tonight?"

Even to him, it sounded like a dumb question.

"Nothing much," she tried to assure him. "I just managed to locate my means of entering the Holy Grail War, after days of searching and years of preparation, but here I find you walking away with the prize. Isn't funny how life can work out, isn't it?"

The look on her face said she was anything but amused by the situation. The grin she was wearing had gone from disturbing to almost sinister, especially compared to his rather awkward smile. A harsh red glow began to shine from the jewel in her right hand, casting benign pinkish lights against the walls. Shirou began to wonder if one of his classmates was actually going to try and murder him.

It was the sound of Sabers sword leaving its sheath that seemed to break Rin out of her rage induced haze.

"I don't know who you are, nor do I care." Sabers voice could have frozen boiling tar. "But if you attack my Master, I will kill you."

Despite her best attempt at looking unaffected by the threat, Rin flinched slightly at the look she was getting. Pocketing the garnet stone she was holding, the school idol managed a smile that look less like something out of a horror movie.

"You're right, I'm sorry about that Emiya-kun but the last few days have been a little rough on me." A look told her that Saber still hadn't sheathed her sword yet. "But you must be very brave! Taking part in the Holy Grail War with the little training you must have, good for you!"

Unsure of just how much mocking was in those words, Shirou couldn't stop himself from correcting her.

"It's a tournament actually, not a war."

Blinking Rin turned her full attention to her classmate. "What?"

"What I'm competing in now, it's actually the Holy Grail Tournament, not the Holy Grail War."

RIn didn't even have to fake the look of confusion she was wearing now. While this may have explained why her summoning didn't work, because it clearly wasn't an error on her part, it didn't really explain anything else.

"I see," she lied. "Then I think there is someone you two need to meet."

"Someone we need to meet," Shirou thought out loud. The confused look on her classmates face brought Rin back to a more familiar state of mind. She was back in her commonly used school idol persona.

"Yes, he's the man responsible for facilitating the Holy Grail War. Participants are supposed to present themselves before him and-"

"No," Saber cut her off mid-sentence. "This is not the Holy Grail War, as my Master has made clear to you already. As such, we are not required to present ourselves to anyone in this situation." Having said her part, Saber walked for the door. Rin moved out of her way as fast as she could without looking intimidated.

Honestly, it was a foolish move in any case, revealing oneself to a potential enemy like that. And she knew from experience that the presentation the girl mentioned was largely ceremonial, there was no reason for Shirou to take a risk like that.

Shirou looked between the two girls, still more confused than he was comfortable with, but began to follow after Saber anyway. The face that this wasn't the Holy Grail War seemed like a valid point after all. Besides, the sooner he got away from Tohsaka, the better. Whatever fascination he felt at finally meeting a magic user he felt was easily overshadowed by the negative feelings their first meeting had generated.

A minute later and Rin was alone in the house. Annoyed as she was at the revelations of the last several minutes, part of her was just happy to have survived the meeting. Some Masters would have had her killed simply to keep their status secret for a little while longer, never mind the potential competition or her near. What had she been thinking, planning to attack a Master right in front of their Servant. Still, his generosity had worked in her favor right now. Thought she wasn't sure he appreciated the situation he was now in.

Rin shook her head. There was no reason to stick around with her prize taken. The best thing now was to get home and plan her next move.

…and pretend that Saber hadn't terrified her back there.

* * *

><p>"Don't you think you were a little harsh back there?" Shirou carefully questioned his Servant as the pair made their way home.<p>

"You're too trusting," Saber chided him. The blonde servant didn't believe that she had overreacted in the slightest. If anything she had been too soft with the girl "If she had actually attacked I would have killed her. Under the circumstances, only her age kept me from crippling her for the threat she made."

Shirou wasn't convinced. "I don't think she was really going to attack us."

"Why are you so certain of that? Is the girl a friend or comrade of yours?"

"Not really," Shirou admitted sheepishly. "I didn't even know she was able to use magic until tonight."

"Then her motivations could be far more malicious then you imagine. She clearly knew something of the situation, even if her details were lacking. As such, she should be treated with caution from this point forward."

Having said her part, Saber turned away from him. Shirou watched her for a few moments longer before his eyes drifted back towards the road. Saber might have had a point, he really didn't know Rin. At best, he would have called them acquaintances.

But he wasn't about to start killing people unless he had too.

* * *

><p>Kirei was curious.<p>

By itself, that probably didn't seem like a big deal. But for someone like Kirei, who could rarely find interest in anything for any length of time. So he valued the rare moments when could actually bring himself to care about something. Even though that something usually involved another person's suffering.

His current interest was something that he had been hoping would come about for some time, though he hadn't considered the changes that the event had gone through. The Holy Grail Tournament, with seven times the servants and a much larger battlefield as the original event. Not to mention these hidden worlds that he had heard of. Absolutely fascinating!

Gilgamesh had not shared his interest in the changes. The former king had seen the Holy Grail War as one of the few positive things in a world of mindless sheep and mediocre swine.

His choice of words had been much harsher.

Kotomine had casually pointed out that the larger number of competitors and the lack of boundaries would actually make the event more like a real war. The Heroic Spirit hadn't seemed entirely convinced, but he had accepted when he went on to mention the improved chances of seeing Her again, with so many more Servants being summoned. That had been enough to calm the regal man down.

In a moment of curiosity, the man had even gone out to locate one of the summoning reagents that seemed necessary to obtain a Servant now. After blowing through what he had described as completely unworthy opposition, most likely with attacks that would have destroyed buildings if he hadn't been so contained, he returned with the peculiar object shortly before vanishing again. Something that he did every so often, he didn't question him on it.

Kirei had looked over the object for a while, questions going through his mind. Who had made these items? The Holy Grail, a helper it had produced somehow, or someone else? Not to mention these strange creatures and the hidden world that Gilgamesh had briefly described. While the Holy Grail certainly had the power to make these things happen, he didn't know how or why the artifact would do so.

Much of what he had learned had come from contacts he still had with the Mage's Association or from what he had gleamed from the fit that his student Rin had thrown after her own failed attempt to summon a Servant. He honestly wasn't sure what he would do now that his position as facilitator had been suspended due to the altered circumstances. He was content to watch for now, but knew Rin wouldn't be stopped by this.

Actually, that gave him an idea. He didn't feel like using the item himself, and Rin had greatly desired to take part in the Holy Grail War.

What kind of guardian would he be if he didn't give his young charge a chance to fulfill her dream?

* * *

><p>The trip home was quiet after their short debate, a silence that Shirou found a bit on the oppressive side but couldn't find the proper way to break. He was actually a bit relieved to find himself back at home. There only stop had been to pick up a few things for the kitchen, but with the way his extra guest ate he wasn't sure how long they would last. They hadn't even been gone two hours, so it wasn't time to begin dinner yet. He did have schoolwork to do though. He would have been done by now under normal circumstances, but there were just too many things stealing his attention and time these days.<p>

The last thing that he needed was for his guardian to come down on him for not keeping up at school. He was going to have enough trouble when she realized that Saber was still here. He could keep her hidden for a time, but sooner or later she or Sakura would find out. And Sakura would never be able to keep something like this secret for long. She could never keep these kinds of things secret.

Saber watched her Master retreat with a serious look on her face. She realized that her willingness to kill had unnerved him and now wished that she had approached the subject with more caution. But Shirou didn't understand how bad wars were, and despite the change in name she still considered the event she was in a kind of war and would respond accordingly.

On a related note, their excursion earlier didn't seem to have had any major effects on her. She could feel light traces of improvement, but didn't feel that they had accomplished as much as she'd hoped they would.

She would have to speak to Shirou about returning later, and several other things. She could respect his wishes to keep others from growing suspicious, but wasn't going to let him put himself at risk simply to keep up appearances.

Sacrifices had to made, and the real fighting hadn't even begun yet.

* * *

><p>Matou Zouken was not a happy man.<p>

Not that this was unusual for him. Honestly, it had been a long time since he had felt real joy. His long years had left him with more than a little bitterness at the world around him. But his ire had a specific target at the moment.

The so called Holy Grail Tournament.

Not that he really cared what title was used, so long as he got the Holy Grail in the end it could be called whatever it wanted. No, it was changes in circumstances that had gotten to him.

How in the world was he supposed to go trouncing about Japan! He was more two hundred years old damn it! The plans he had made were shot to hell how!

But anger, however therapeutic it could be at times, would do him no good now. He hadn't survived this long by losing it when things didn't go as planned. He had to take a step back and access his new situation.

There was no way that he could go running around Japan as he was now. Strong as he was magically, the centuries had left his body slow and fragile. Even allowing his familiars to feed daily wouldn't restore his body to the level of strength he had possessed in his youth, so that option was out.

His so called grandchildren, who had avoided him since the summoning ritual had failed, would do him little good now. His grandson was all but worthless. The Book of False Attendant was useless without a Servant to control, and even though would have made the boy a distraction at best. Sakura was only slightly more valuable under the circumstances, despite her place in his plan. She had the power to do what he needed, but not the will.

Still, there were still some things that worked in his favor.

By accident or design, five of the strange fields containing the summoning reagents were located within the cities limits. Perhaps the Holy Grail had a sense of irony. His familiars had gone over the city very thoroughly, with help from some other insects he had under his control, so he was certain of that much. Two of those locations had been visited by magic capable humans already, so he would have to assume them lost for now. That left three chances before he would have to look outside of the city.

He would have to handle this personally, there was no other choice. And for the long term situation, he might have to resort to extreme measures.

For somebody like him, that was really saying something.

* * *

><p>The rest of the day was a lot less hectic, though there was some lingering tension. After putting away the groceries he had spent a few hours on schoolwork, followed by dinner preparations. It was as close to normal as he had experienced in what seemed like weeks. But doing these simple things gave him time to think about his problems, the most imminent of them being Saber staying here.<p>

Hiding her seemed like the simplest method, but as often as he had company it would only work for a short time. Convincing Taiga to let her stay would be just as challenging if he didn't approach the subject properly. But even that might not be enough after the way she had reacted during the meal yesterday. Finding her somewhere else to stay was an option, but he didn't think she would go for it. It had been hard enough keeping her out of his room.

He took a moment to examine the sword like markings on his hand. Command Seals, there had been a file on them in the computer. A command that could not be ignored by the Servant, even going so far as to surpass their limits to make sure the order happened.

Shirou dismissed the idea as quickly as it came. Ignoring the moral implications of using them on someone, the article on the tablet had warned that they were not a good long term solution. And using them to keep her away would only serve to piss Saber off.

He should probably do something to hide the markings though. They were strange enough looking that awkward question could be asked, and he had enough problems as it was.

What was he going to do about Rin?

While he wasn't prepared to classify her as an enemy, but he could see the wisdom in being a bit more cautious until he could talk to her about what happened. That was something else he was going to have to talk to Saber about later.

If he had known that Rin would acquire her own Servant that night, he might have been more inclined to follow his blonde servants thinking.

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><p>Another chapter completed. I hope I managed to keep everyone reasonably in character. I was a bit unsure about this when I got started, but it's done and now for a couple of after chapter notes. My next chapter probably won't be out until after Christmas. I have family visiting from up in New Jersey.<p>

First, the reaction people had to the summoning ritual. Due to the differences between the events, obviously the ritual is no longer enough to summon a servant. Instead, the Holy Grail provides some information, much like what happens to Servants when they are summoned, but with far less data. More importantly are the images, they create a sort of trail between the location of the place the ritual is happening and the nearest unclaimed Soul Stone.

Rin did the ritual the day before Shirou stumbled onto Saber, so she had already missed it by the time she found him and Saber. Poor Rin, but she won't be alone for long as you can tell.

Second, about the range that Shirou and Rin were able to sense the mirror's magic from. In canon, Shirou is highly adept as sensing magic; it's one of the few areas he outclasses Rin in. That's why he could sense it at a greater distance.

Third, the reactions of certain characters to the changes that have been made to the Holy Grail War, just so they make a bit more sense. These people have been preparing years for this event, only to find out that the war isn't going to happen. Under those circumstances, I'd be pretty pissed off. But most of these people are off in one way or another.

Fourth, I'd like to confirm the perspective of the story. This is a story about Shirou, so the story will focus on him and his group. So while we will occasionally check in on others, this is where our attention will be.

Fifth, I'll be making revisions to earlier chapters at some point in the future. No major changes right now, but I'll try to fix the little grammar mistakes that I might have missed when I looked over my work the first time in the next few chapters.

Sixth, Gilgamesh is going to be a major opponent further down the line, as some people should have picked up from this chapter. He's already a powerful Servant, and he is also able to draw strength from fallen opponents. Even though he was not summoned the same way Saber and others will be.

Seventh, Saber is not planning to betray Shirou or anything. She's way too loyal for that. She's just trying to keep him from making what she sees as very foolish mistakes.

Eighth, while Zouken's familiars are worms I can see him being able to use other kinds of insects as well. This was lightly implied here, but may come up in future chapters as well. They can sense magic and some other things, but lack in certain areas. That's why they couldn't tell the difference between a magus like Shirou and A Heroic Spirit like Gilgamesh.

Ninth, I try to average between four and six thousand words a chapter, so this chapter is a little shorter by my standards. I think this is a good balance between chapter length and update speed, but that's just me. I like long chapters, but I don't want to wait three to four months for them.

Tenth, while I will bring certain video game elements in, enemies will not mysteriously drop money. Unless they choose to mug or loot another master, but that's a different matter altogether. I do have an idea for acquiring funds though, just wait and see.

Finally, same final message as always. Please take some time and let me know what you thought of this chapter. It's inspiring and would make a nice holiday gift from you to me.


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